Primary Sources Series
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Learning about America through primary sources: Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education signified the early stages of a significant shift in the history of the United States. Only by learning from, understanding and applying the lessons of this history can the U.S. hope to better approach the…
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Learning about America through primary sources: Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was an 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision saying that state racial segregation laws did not violate the Constitution. The Plessy decision underpinned the Jim Crow legal regime until it was overturned during the 1960s.
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Learning about America through primary sources: The 13th-15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution
The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were enacted during the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877). Together, they were an attempt to establish and protect Black Americans’ constitutional and civil rights in the post-slavery period.
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Learning about America through primary sources: Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation that prohibited discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, and ended segregation in public places. The new law put an end to legalized…
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Learning about America through primary sources: Lincoln-Douglas debates
Through historical records like the Lincoln-Douglas debates, we can learn from these periods of history and try to follow the model of their progress while avoiding their missteps.
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Learning about America through primary sources: Dred Scott decision
It’s difficult to understand historical events critical to the modern American civic fabric – such as the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – without first understanding Dred Scott, a Supreme Court ruling in 1857.
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Learning about America through primary sources: Emancipation Proclamation
Students today are bombarded with messages about America – our history, slavery and race relations. Certainly, no student would be prepared for these widespread discussions without being aware of and studying the Emancipation Proclamation – what it did, what it…
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Learning about America through primary sources: Marbury v. Madison
Aside from the fact that Marbury v. Madison is broadly studied for its impact in establishing judicial review – making it a fundamental element in American governance – students should understand the principle it illustrates so they can identify it…
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Learning about America through primary sources: The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a civics education in and of themselves. Written with the intent to explain particulars in the Constitution, the collection of essays helps readers today understand the mechanisms found within the Constitution and the political and philosophical…
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Learning about America through primary sources: Bill of Rights
The famous Bill of Rights is simply the first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States. It is considered to be the codification of some of the most fundamental individual rights, so fundamental, in fact, that there was…